Vineyard Peach from The Body Shop

I’ll admit it, I tend to go for scents in the citrus and vanilla sphere when choosing a new body butter or shower gel. When the new release from The Body Shop hit my desk, I was intrigued and was happy to get outside the usual fragrance funk and try something new. Vineyard Peach is a special limited edition release from the eco-friendly company, and like the rest of their scent line, this one is a winner!

 

Smelling like straight up fresh cut peaches, this is heavily scented stuff we’re dealing with. As always, it is the shower gel ($12.95) that steals my heart the most. The Body Shop shower gels are probably my favourite on the market, they lather up the perfect amount and the scents are always in your face, without being in your face, you know? The gel leaves your skin soft and not at all squeaky (nobody wants that, seriously) and the scent sticks to your skin in a delicate and subtle way after you dry off.

 

A surprising front runner is the body scrub containing ground peach seeds ($27.95) I am generally a fan of the sugar based heavy hitting scrubs from these guys, and this seemed so gentle and creamy that I wasn’t sure it would blossom into a full relationship. Lo and behold, I’ve become accustomed to some exfoliation on the lighter end of the scale, possibly persuaded by the fact that this makes your skin so soft and moisturised, without ANY residue. Big win guys, standing ovation please! 

 

Now when it comes to post-shower indulgence, The Body Shop brings both a lotion ($21.95)and a thick butter ($27.95) to the table. I like my moisturisation to be intense and worthwhile, so I am definitely rooting for the big ol’ tub of peachy goodness that the butter holds. The lotion doesn’t really do it for me, but I suppose 3 outta 4 ain’t bad?

 

Since this is a limited release deal, I suggest you take a sniff next time you’re in the vicinity of the eco-haven that is The Body Shop. If it doesn’t tickle your fancy, my uber faves Satsuma and Moringa should be on a shelf close by, so give them some love as well. I don’t mind a long wander in their stores, as they assistants aren’t pushy when they know you just want to stand there and sniff every single scent they have. Not that I do that often…

 

 

*These products were provided for consideration. My father in law ate all the peaches so I was stuck with nectarines for this shoot...did you notice? Honesty, always.

Pink Peachy Popping

While perusing my local Beauty Spot (link) I saw a Smooch makeup stand filled with products I had never seen before. They resembled Nars rubberized packaging and were priced around the $5/$10 mark, and so I thought it safe to take a gamble and bring some of the products home with me. I chose the blush duo in Peachy, and a lipstick in Popping Pink.

 

 

I had a play with everything, and when I got home I brought up Google and tried to find out more about the Smooch brand. It turns out they are a UK based company who draw inspiration from lingerie for their cosmetics, and was a little taken aback when I saw that their tagline is “Cosmetics with sex appeal” While I’m not sure that the other makeup products in my drawer are attracted to the Smooch goodies, but I’m loving the way they make me look!

 

 

 

The Peachy blush duo comes in a single pan, with a shimmery side sitting alongside a deeper matte shade. I find that my blush brush picks up both shades equally, and so treat this as a single blush colour rather than a duo as the brand does. It imparts a glow to the skin without using chunky shimmer and glitter, and I like that it is pigmented but easy enough to sheer out and wear every day. In the swatches I’ve shown you both sides of the pan, then them mixed together to show you what the colour ultimately appears like on the cheek.

 

 

 

Popping Pink is so smooth to apply, it sort of feels like a lip balm as it glides on really easily, but the colour is definitely vibrant enough. I didn’t mind taking a gamble on a cheapie like this, but I am really glad that I’ve found a winner with this! The packaging is matte black with pink lace edges on the tube and cap, and it is a little bit young for me but cute nevertheless. It isn’t too bright either, but can be built up a little if you like your lips to wow.

 

 

One swipe, then two, then three
 

 

Peachy (heavy) on the cheek and Popping Pink on the lips!

 



 

What do you think of the Smooch look?

Will you be picking up either of these?

 

 

Cute as a Button

This polish is described as a 'juicy persimmon delight' on the US Essie site (here) I would describe it as a light peachy pink coral, which appears a little neon in some lights and dusty in others.

I adore the name of this polish, the shade itself is indeed cute as a button so it is very fitting!

I wore this a few weeks ago when Chris and I stayed at his family beach house, and though the wind was howling and the air was chilly, I was happy to have this little ray of muted sunshine on my fingers.

****

****

Do you tend to wear darker shades in colder weather, or are you like me and brighten up your nails?

The Inglot Inventory: Peachy Keen

Forgive the cheeky university bathroom shots, it was the only opportunity I had to take pictures of this look after I forgot during the car ride in. I wear this dress quite often (see post here) and love drawing out the rich orange tones to use in my makeup.

 The BareMinerals concealer was used today, and you will notice on one of the blemishes on my forehead my skin looks darker, and frankly horrible. It's quite obviously not the concealer for me, but this is all a learning process :)

Face:

BareMinerals Foundation in Fairly Light*

BareMinerals Warmth (as bronzer)*

BareMinerals Concealer*

BareMinerals Mineral Veil*

NYX Peach blush

Face of Australia Powder in Outback Translucent*

Eyes:

MAC Painterly Paint Pot

Inglot Bright orange (from this palette)

Inglot AMC Shine 08 (champagne from this palette)

Mirenesse Tightliner in Black*

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes

BYS Brow Pencil in Brown*

Lips:

Revlon Super Lustrous Gloss in Coral Reef

I snapped these so quickly as people were coming in and out, and I didn't think about reapplying my Revlon Coral Reef so you might notice that it has rubbed off quite a bit in these pictures. It's much more vibrant before you stuff your face with a toasted cheese sandwich and flat white from your favourite cafe!

What is your favourite orange cosmetic products?

Have you tried Coral Reef? It is a stunner!

Products marked * were provided for consideration but this does not affect my thoughts of them nor my choice to use them in my looks.

Haul ft. MAC, Inglot, Daiso and Blog Sales

Have done some cheeky hauling with my birthday cash (yep, still going strong!) these past two weeks and thought I would show you the loot!

The blush and highlight duo in the top left hand corner was $2.80 from Daiso but is actually for my best friend Candice, as she was looking into trying out orange cheek shades (hurray!) The blotting papers were a good find as my skin has changed from dry to oily lately so I've gone into damage control mode.

Inglot have discontinued their round shadow pans and palettes and they are currently selling them for 50 % off! I have two Inglot stores nearby and since the above purchase I have bought two more bunches, so get in quick if you want a good choice of colour. I chose these 3 colours as they were the best the store had to offer- a golden olive, beautiful purple shade and deep blue. I will be doing a big post with all of my new colours very soon.

A visit to MAC was inevitable, as I had a $20 Myer voucher to burn and my eye on these two beauties. Viva Glam Nicki is the new Viva Glam shade, and all proceeds from this go towards the MAC Aids Fund so it's a win-win purchase. Such a stunning bright yellow-based pink shade! I have dedicated a whole post to this so keep your eyes peeled.

The other MAC choice was from the new bunch of Sheen Supreme lipsticks, and Asian Flower was a no-brainer for me. A purpled pink shade, I am head over heels in love and again, a full post is on its way! I tried to buy Tread Gently tendertone from the Shop MAC Cook MAC collection but it was sold out. Ordered it from ebay, cannot wait to get my little hands on it!

I clicked onto Caitlin from Swatch Storm's blog sale here and chose a few shadows I wanted. Caitlin was lovely enough to throw in some sachet samples for me, and a MAC eye pencil!

MAC Plumage was the reason for purchasing anything from the blog sale, as I really liked the look of the colour and am currently building up my MAC eyeshadow collection as they are one of my favourite brands for eyeshadows.

Fyrinnae Orca is a damn stunner. Good impulse buy right there!

Fyrinnae Princess of Darkness, again such a gorgeous shadow. I do think that Fyrinnae and I are going to become firm friends in the near future...

A lovely Evil Shades loose shadow in Acolyte that Caitlin threw in for me.

Caitlin was so generous with the extras she popped in with my order, this Ivy MAC pencil is more than half gone but still has a heap of use left, and I am glad to be able to try it out! I have an upcoming makeup look that I think this would work perfectly with.

What have you hauled lately?

What MAC shadows do you suggest I add to my palettes?

Blush Love: NYX Peach

The first twelve months of this here blog saw me hesitate from reviewing my most loved products, for fear I would not do them justice. Over the new year, I realised that I am not perfect, nor do you expect me to be (I hope!) So expect to see some kick ass products rocking this page, starting now, with my most adored blush.

 NYX PEACH

This was definitely one of my top products for 2011, as I used it at least 5 days out of each week. Considering how affordable this blush is, I am amazed at how long it has lasted. Surely I am about to hit pan on this?! The suspense is killing me!

This is quite a heavy swatch, which seems appropriate as I often wore this blush heavily. It's very buildable, so is excellent if you like a sheer look or heavy cheeks like moi, and it lasts all day long on my cheeks. I've seen others talk of broken packaging as it is made of plastic, but so far I've been lucky despite this going everywhere with me. It's a matte peachy pink shade that would suit a wide range of skin tones, in my opinion. I've seen it look quite peachy on others, but it's pretty darn pink on me.

I adore this blush and will be repurchasing, but before I do I'm going to use up some of my other blushes. When Peach is around, they get no love :'(

What is your one true blush love?

Have you tried NYX Peach?

Details!

I purchased this from a store in Spencer St DFO (Melbourne) but it is also available at:

*Crush Cosmetics here for $11.15 AUD

*Cherry Culture here for $6 AUD (but is on sale right now for $4.50!)

*Groove stores, or eBay

This product was purchased by me and is not sponsored by NYX, all opinions are honest, this blush really does rock. x

 

Have you entered my Botani birthday giveaway? Leave a comment on this post then scoot over and enter!